While some companies are freezing pay to avoid job cuts, others have no choice but to axe employees. Which means more directors are seeking to become consultants, freelancers or portfolio workers. We offer advice for directors going solo.

As the recession deepens, the managerial ranks of large
organisations are feeling the impact of job cuts. And as more and
more professionals find themselves caught up in this "white-collar
recession", redundancy is proving to be the push that they need to
consider going it alone as a consultant or starting their own
businesses.

Online business portals and freelance networks are reporting
increased activity from prospective new members. Since the start of
the downturn, online consultants network Skillfair has seen
membership soar, with a 70 per cent rise in numbers from a year
earlier. Founder and managing director Gill Hunt, who herself
worked as an IT professional in a corporate environment for many
years before becoming an independent consultant, says: "Times are
tough and jobs are being cut, but there is still work to be found.
Businesses that do not want to risk employing permanent staff in
uncertain times will consider alternatives, and that includes
contracting out to independent business professionals."

A recent survey of Skillfair members revealed there were few
regrets among those who had decided to use redundancy to launch a
solo career, with the majority finding the move more lucrative than
they had anticipated. Eighty per cent said that they had paying
clients within the first three months of becoming self-employed,
while 60 per cent revealed they earned as much or more than they
did when they were employed by a business.

So what is the secret of making a smooth transition from a
successful corporate role to career self-sufficiency? "It is about
planning ahead, having a few business contacts and leads lined up
before you leave your job; effective networking and absolute
self-belief, because no matter how skilled or experienced you are,
you will feel lonely and anxious at first," says Hunt.

When Rob Watling was made redundant from the BBC in 2007 and
chose self-employment, his first decision was to avoid replicating
his former job. He now runs his own executive coaching business,
Momentum Associates, in Nottingham.

"When you are working out what you are going to do, it is
important to look at the nature of your previous job, but not
necessarily the specifics," he says. "My previous role was in
programming for BBC Learning, which involved talking to people,
understanding them and tapping into their passion, which I really
enjoyed. I had also had some experience at the BBC as an executive
coach, and it was in that arena that I decided I wanted to focus my
efforts."

In the early days he offered some coaching services free to help
establish a track record. Since then, with the exception of one or
two lean spells, he has been busy. Watling also subscribes to the
theory of strength in numbers, and has assembled a network of
associates-other freelance coaches who can help with larger
projects. "Eventually your confidence does grow and you find
yourself wondering not if the work will come in, but when," he
explains.

Some freelancers prefer the portfolio approach to career
management, taking on several types of work at the same time. So
popular has the concept become that it is a professional status as
much as a style of working, says Adrian Bourne, an expert on this
approach and co-author of You... Unlimited, a bestselling book on
the subject of portfolio careers.

"Long before the economy slumped and jobs were lost, people were
taking stock of their lives and deciding they wanted to spend more
time on their own business plan rather than that of their
employer," he says. "More people than ever are balancing their life
interests with a variety of work interests, dividing their time
between various companies, studying, or spending time with the
family, and achieving a different balance of time and money."

Not only does he envisage the portfolio framework becoming the
norm, he believes that companies are in favour. "It gives them the
flexibility and the affordability that full-time permanent
recruitment can't provide. The opportunities for those leaving
employment, either by choice or because of redundancy, will
increase," he says.

Interim management is another option for skilled, experienced
professionals who have found themselves out of work. It is well
paid, challenging and, at the highest level, fiercely competitive,
but no cushy option, says Steve Huxham, chairman of The Recruitment
Society. "If you take up an assignment there is no time for a
learning curve," he cautions. "You are paid a competitive daily or
pro-rata rate to make an impact in the first hour of the first
day."

Companies rarely recruit interims to be generalists so you must
be clear about the specific skills you are offering. A career
interim should have a menu for employers; a check list of the
specific skill sets and competencies you have and how they can be
used in that environment.

If nothing else, interim managers are committed to their role,
says Gavan Burden, managing director of interim management
consultancy Burden Dare. "It's a profession, not a stopgap measure
to fill in the time between jobs, and it won't suit everyone," he
says. "Regardless of your ability, unless you are comfortable
working alone, without the support of a team, you may find the work
too isolating."

Whatever route you choose, going it alone for the first time can
be daunting; a feeling often compounded by the sense of failure at
having been made redundant, a loss of credibility if the role
carried significant corporate kudos and the feeling of no longer
being part of a team.

While confidence levels will quickly resume with a burgeoning
workload, and a sense of team membership can be restored through
good networking, a lack of security -the famine-or-feast nature of
freelance work-is a permanent fixture. But you can learn to work
with it.

Paul Taylor started his own consultancy after taking redundancy
from a senior role in the head office of a UK retail bank in 1995,
and has seen how market fluctuations can affect the independent
sector.

Taylor, whose Staffordshire-based company Cleevebridge
Management provides project management support for a range of
corporate clients, says: "The worst year was 1999 and the run-up to
the millennium when project work was heavily IT-driven by Y2K
compliance activity. I know that a number of businesses similar to
mine fared badly after that because they were offering too narrow a
service. By focusing on being flexible in terms of services
offered, I have built up a good network of contacts, who in turn
have introduced me to new clients."

With more people taking redundancy, he anticipates more
competition, although he suspects that not everyone will adapt to
the working style of self-employment. In the current economic
climate, business, too, is proving harder to find, with client fees
being squeezed continually.

At Skillfair, Hunt's guidance is not to be deterred by the
prospect of many people in a similar position flooding your
intended market. "See other consultants as potential associates who
can help you, rather than competitors, and build a good referral
system," she advises.

In deciding the exact nature of your freelance career, Watling
suggests speaking to your employer. "Ask them why they hired you
above other candidates, and look over your past appraisals as these
can reveal skills you weren't that aware of," he says. On a
practical note, adds Taylor, set aside enough cash to live on for
three to six months while the business is being established and
income generated. "Invest in sound professional advice, including a
good accountant, and be prepared to do extra training on things
such as new technology and presentations, to at least keep abreast
of the competition," he says.

Bourne insists that those affected by the white-collar
recession should see self-employment, not as a solution to a
short-term problem, but as a long-term decision. "Having
experienced the freedom of self-employment, few people decide to go
back to a full-time job, choosing a life of careers rather than a
career for life," he says.